Shower panels

[bobblysock]

We are replacing the tray in our walk in shower as well as the tiles in the same area. Our builder has recommended shower panels as a tile alternative. There doesn't seem to be a lot to see in showrooms near us, and very difficult to go by photos or swatches so hard to get a feel of what they look like in real life. Would anyone recommend, not recommend or better yet, share pictures of theirs? I was thinking a gloss acrylic, to look similar to a glass splashback.

We have our en suite and main bathroom with shower panels, so easy to keep clean, no grout to clean and I love them. I’m going to attempt to add photos, this might go wrong…

I've heard that you can not fit caddies onto these panels though so you'd have nowhere to store your shampoo etc.

We have panels in our ensuite and we have two corner baskets attached to them. Panels are so much easier to clean than tiles, simply wipe down or use a blade, I wouldn’t go back to tiles now

Good to hear you are happy with them HouseofGamers as we are looking at panels as they seem good value and easier to clean than tiles.

I'm seriously considering these for my ensuite. Are they expensive?

Husband is in the bath just now so will send a picture later but I honestly wouldn't go back to tiles after having the panels. No grout to maintain or replace which is great as we forums getting a tiler to be an absolute nightmare. Far easier and quicker to clean. Absolutely love them. We went right to the supplier directly and they had a hood range to choose from

Thank you everyone for your replies, and to @HouseofGamers for posting photos. Can I ask which brands people have used?

We got the Linda barker range from grant Westfield

We used Multipanel at the suggestion of our plumber. Ours came from Wolseley plumbing supplies, they had some on walls to see too. Our en suite cost around £1500 in total but that was new cubicle, shower, panels to all walls and new toilet suite and floor too.

To answer the issue with shower gel etc we got a Shower Gem. Attached by glue only, and although my OH was sure they would fall off, they have been up 18 months now and are as secure as when fitted.

Like this: www.amazon.co.uk/ShowerGem-Shower-Suction-Winning-Rustproof/dp/B07JG6JZQ8/ref=asc_df_B07JG6JZQ8/?hvlocphy=9046296&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=319371930696&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-662429473164&hvrand=2686239014142478489

The Shower Gem is actually cheaper direct from manufacturer.

showergem.co.uk/

We have shower walls and they have been great so far, no cleaning the grouting 👍

We have ones from Showerwall and got them from www.rubberduckbathrooms.co.uk/shower-panels-boards which were the cheapest I could find. I wouldn't particularly recommend Showerwall (but would recommend Rubberduck suppliers). I would now go for something that's waterproof all the way through as if Showerwall get wet on the edges they swell as the core isn't waterproof. I love the boards though. We have the galaxy ones which are white with sparkly bits in. Much easier to keep clean than tiles and look great.

Oh and you can often get small sample bits from the various suppliers to see what they look like

Just looked and I think the 100% waterproof ones are from Nuance which are the ones I would go for if I was doing it again.

Our bathroom builder supplied ours so I’m sorry but I can’t tell you where our panels came from.

We have panels - agree they're great and I wouldn't go back to tiles

Thank you everyone! Just ordered loads of samples.

Love them! So easy to clean and don’t get much mould! Can’t do photos cos ours are unique and so identifying - we got a photo of our holiday venue printed onto them. Inly note of caution is ours got a little scratched during fitting because the picture was printed onto the surface not back of the acrylic, v annoying, wouldn’t use my bespoke supplier (or fitter) again. Message me if you want photo showerwall and need to avoid the name.

But still way better than tiles. We use a freestanding caddy but have attached a shower rail and is fine, you absolutely can drill holes in showerwall (is actually easier than tile!) you just need someone competent, as ever.

@ouch321

I've heard that you can not fit caddies onto these panels though so you'd have nowhere to store your shampoo etc.

We had alcoves built into wet wall panels in our bathrooms in our old house…I’m embarking on a full house renovation just now and am finding that some tradesmen can be a bit lazy and want the easy way out for everything, so a lot depends on the tradesman

I have some shower panels that came with our house. I can't talk about anyone else's but I think you're right to get a lot of samples as the ones we have look cheap and plasticy particularly over a large area.

They're definitely easier to clean but when we do the en-suite next year they will be the first thing in the skip!

I HATE mine. I'm in hard water area and despite squeegeeing every shower, and frequent cleaning, the limescale has marked. Also I think mould has got in at the bottom. You can't give them as good of a scrub as you can with tiles and grout.

I'm having mine taken out this year.

That’s interesting @TheSpottedZebra can you share a photo of what you mean? I had the same concerns.

We got shower panels and use these Joseph Joseph suction shelves that hold many a bottle!

We had shower panels you can get problems with shower tray and panel joint. Went for a pod sealed unit just one joint half way up the sides.